Negligent Caribbean Police Blamed in Murder of American Yachting Couple

Investigators from Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines stand aboard the yacht "Simplicity," now anchored at the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Coastguard Service Calliaqua Base, in Calliaqua, St. Vincent, on Feb. 23, 2024. Kenton X. Chance/AP Photo

Four Grenada police officers face charges and disciplinary action for a series of missteps that allowed three dangerous convicts to escape from jail, allegedly hijack an American couple’s yacht, and brutally murder them, according to reports.

Grenadian Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said at a press conference on March 12 that the four police officers have been charged with various offenses under the Police Act, including making false statements and allowing prisoners to escape detention, according to Loop News Caribbean.

Mr. Mitchell said that following proper police protocols would have prevented the escape of the three prisoners, who have since been recaptured and each charged with two counts of capital murder in the deaths of Kathy Brandel and Ralph Hendry in late February.

The Virginia couple had been sailing in the Caribbean on their yacht “Simplicity.” The vessel was found on Feb. 19 off the shores of Grand Anse Beach in Grenada, “bearing chilling evidence of a violent struggle,” their family said in a statement.

An investigation into the incident revealed that the three prisoners had been placed in a corridor with weak security features, from which they easily escaped through a window, rather than in individual holding cells with secure locking mechanisms, according to the prime minister. Internal police warnings had been issued two days before the escape that the trio was considered dangerous and a flight risk, he noted.

The prime minister said that a litany of failures, including supervisory negligence, improper shift handover, failure to heed warnings, and not following standard operating procedures, allowed the prisoners to escape, leading to the tragic deaths of Ms. Brandel and Mr. Hendry.

“It is clear that had the men been placed in the individual locking cells which had proper functioning locking mechanisms, they would not have escaped or had the opportunity to escape,” the prime minister said, per Fox News.

“The investigation concluded ... human error, primarily in the form of negligence, played a pivotal role in the escape.”

What Happened?

The Royal Grenada Police Force said in an earlier statement that the three suspects escaped from jail on Feb. 18, a day before the couple’s yacht was found abandoned.

The nonprofit Salty Dawg Sailing Association (SDSA) said in a statement that Mr. Hendry and Ms. Brandel were “veteran cruisers” and longtime members of the association.

Calling them “warmhearted and capable,” the SDSA stated that a cruising skipper came across the couple’s yacht, anchored and abandoned off a beach on the south coast of St. Vincent, an island in the Caribbean.

“The good Samaritan had boarded the boat and noted that the owners, Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel, were not onboard and found evidence of apparent violence,” the SDSA stated.

Bernat Buj, a catamaran captain who was paddle-boarding along the St. Vincent shore when he came across the couple’s ransacked yacht, told PEOPLE in an interview that there was a “great mess throughout the ship” and that he initially thought it was the scene of a robbery.

“But when I entered a cabin and saw blood, I thought it could be something much worse,” Mr. Buj told the outlet.

Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel, in a file photo. Nick Buro via CNN Newsource

Grenada police said in a March 7 update that the three escapees—Ron Mitchell, Trevon Robertson, and Abita Stanislaus—had been recaptured and each charged with two counts of capital murder by “intentionally causing the death” of Ms. Brandel and Mr. Hendry, whose bodies have yet to be found after the suspects presumably threw them overboard.

All three suspects have also been charged with other offenses, including robbery, kidnapping, and escaping lawful custody.

Local media reported on the arrest of the suspects, with video footage of an arrest showing one escapee in shorts with blood on his legs as a police officer shoved him into the back of a pickup truck.

Ron Mitchell, Trevor Robertson, and Atiba Stanislaus, the three suspects in the death of an American couple in the Caribbean, are seen in undated photos. Royal Grenada Police Force

‘Unimaginable Tragedy’

The sons of the murdered couple issued a statement on Feb. 27, saying they were “incredibly saddened” by news that their parents were presumed dead.

“While the end of their life may have been dark, they brought light, and that light will never be extinguished from the hearts and minds of the people who knew, loved and cared so deeply about them,” Nick Buro and Bryan Hendry said in the statement.

“We are ever hopeful that justice will be served.”

Bob Osborn, SDSA president, issued a statement calling it “a very upsetting event.”

“I have spoken to the families and have offered our deepest condolences and our assistance in any way possible,” he said. “In all my years of cruising the Caribbean, I have never heard of anything like this.”